Weed-cutter.



PATENTED JAN. 29, 1907.

0. Q. PETTY.

WEED CUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 16, 1906.

witness:

"is man's rsrsns cm. wAsmnGmu, n. c.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, OTIs O. PETTY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Olney,

in the county of Richmond and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in teed-Cutters, of which the i following is a specification.

, My invention relates to improvements in weed-cutters.

The object of my invention is to provide an instrument by which weeds may be cut off below the surface of the ground and without the operator having to assume a stooping posturefor the purpose.

The instrument embodies the novel features hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrative of my invention, Figure 1 is a side elevation view. 2* is an elevation view taken at right angles to that shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 a vertical central sectional view, the cutter carried by the lever being shown in solid lines in the open position and in dotted lines in the closed position. 'Fig; 4 is a cross-section 2 5 taken on the dotted line a b of Fig. 2. Similar characters of reference denote simi- "lar parts.

1 indicates a tubular cylindrical staff which is held in a vertical positionwhen the'instuid ment is being operated. A vertical arm 2 has at its upper end a collar 3, embracing and rigidly secured to the lower end of the stafi 1, the'lowernnd of.the arm having a vertical blade 4, said arm having intermediate its 3 5 ends a vertical transverse slot 5, in which is -inounted' the horizontal portion of a transverse leverxB, which is pivoted to the arm 2 by means of the transverse pin 7. One end of the lever 6 extends below the staff 1 and has pivotally secured to it the lower end of a 1 vertical rod 8, which extends lengthwise v through the staff 1. The other end of the lever Gis curved downwardly and toward the I blade 4 and carries a cutting-blade 9, normally 5. inclined toward and movable downwardly a ainst the blade 4 when the lever 6 is pro 4 staff is a handle, preferably 'U-shaped,Vt-he arms of which are horizontally-disposed one above the other, the lower arm '10 having'at its end a collar 11,'embracing and rigidly secured to the upper end of the stafi 1-. The upper arm 12 of the handle extends transversely across the upper end of the staff 1 and serves as a handhold for the operatorv When he is using the instrument. In the ver- Specification of Letters Patent.

'UNITED STATES PATENT oirFIoE.

OTIS o. rn'iirjor LNEI, ILLINOIS.

WEED-CUTTER.

Patented Jan. 29, 190'}.

Application filed May 16, 1906. Serial 1%. 317,115.

tical portion of the handle is provided a transverse slot 13, in which is pivoted, by means of a horizontal pin 14, one end of a transverse lever 15, disposed between the arms 10 and 12 and extending over the top of the staff l-and having pivotally connected to it the upper end of the rod 8. Disposed between the arm 12 and the lever 15 and. se cured, preferably,to the under side of thearm 12 is a flat spring 16, which bears upon the upper side of the lever 15 and serves to depress said lever so as to swing the lever Gin,

the position shown in. Fig. 1. r

In operating my invention the staff 1 is held by means of the arm 12 of the handle in the same manner that a cane is held. The blade 4 is forced vertically into the ground by the side of the root of the weed or plant that it is desired to cut off, after which the operator grasps and draws upwardly the lever 15, thus swinging the lever .6 to the position shown in dotted'lines the cutting-blade 9 into the ground an against the blade 4, thus cutting off the root of the plant.

the ground. If the lever 15 now be released, the spring 16 will force the lever downwardly to its normal position, thus through the intermediacy of the rod 8 swinging the lever 6 to the position shown in Fig. 1 and permitting the ready ejectment from the instrument of the portion of the ting-blade 9.

It will be understood that although the mechanism hereinbefore described'constitutes the preferableform of my invention the details of construction maybe modified in manv ways without departing from the spirit of my invention. 1

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patnut, is

1. A weed-cutter comprising a tubular staff having at its upper end a transversehanle and at its lower end a fixed downwardlyextending blade, a lever pivotally mounted on the staff adj acent'its lower end and carrying a cutting-blade movable toward and from the fixed blade in an inclined direction when the lever is swung, and a rod extending through the tubular staff and connected at its lower end to the said lever. 4 2. A weed-cutter comprising a tubular stafl having at one end a transverse handle and at its other end a fixed longitudinallyplant removed by the cutin Fig. 3, thus forcing The operator then elevates the Y Instrument, thus removing the plant from.

. the staff and extending transversely across staff is held'in a vertical position, downdisposed blade, a transverse lever pivoted to the staff adjacent the fixed blade and having at one end a cutting-blade movable toward and from the fixed blade when the lever is swung, means operative by the hand grasping the handle for swinging the lever in one direction, and means by which the lever is retracted in the opposite direction.

3. A weed-cutter comprising a tubular staff having at one end a transverse handle and at the other end a longitudinal fixed blade, two levers pivotally mounted on the staff at opposite ends thereof, the lew er at the end having the fixed blade having a cuttingblade movable toward and from the fixed blade when the lever carrying it isswung, and a rod pivotally connected at its ends to said levers and extending longitudinally through said staff.

4. A weed-cutter comprising a tubular staff having at one end a transverse handle and at the other end a longitudinal fixed blade, two transverse levers pivoted adjacent opposite ends of the lever so as to be swung in a plane at right angles to the face of the fixed blade the lever adjacent the. fixed blade carrying a cutting-blade movable, when the wardly toward and against the fixed blade l when the lever carrying the cutting-blade is swung in one direction, a rod extending longitudinally through the staff and connected at its ends to said levers, and a spring for swinging said levers in a direction such that the cutting-blade will be moved away from the fixed blade. P

5. A weed-cutter comprising a tubular staff having at one end a lateral downwardlyextending arm having at its lower end a fixed blade, a handle secured to the other end of the open end thereof, a transverse lever pivoted to swing vertically between the handle and the upper end of the staff, a spring for forcing said lever downward, a transverse lever pivoted to said arm so as to swing vertically and having one endextending below the open end of the lower end of the staff, and having at the other end a cutting-blade nor mally disposed at an inclined position relative to the fixed blade and movable toward and from said blade when the lever carrying the cutting-blade is swung, and a rod extending through said staff and connected to said levers respectively. 4

6. A weed-cutter compri ing a tubular staff having at one end a vertical arm the upper end of which has a collar embracing the staff, the lower end of the arm having a vertical fixed blade, a horizontally-disposed U- shaped handle one arm of which is provided with a collar embracing the upper end of the staff and the other arm extending over the top of the staff and forming a hanbdold, a lever pivoted between the arms of the handle to swing vertically, a transverse lever pivoted to the arm at. the lower end of the staff so as to wing in a vertical plane and having at one end an inclined cutting-blade movable with the lever carrying it toward and from the fixed blade, the other end of the lever carrying the cutting-hlade extending under the end of the staff, a rod extending through the vertical opening in the staff and connected to said. levers, and a spring for forcing said rod downward.

7. A. weed-cutter comprising avertical tuhula-r staff having at its lower end a vertical arm at the upper end of which is a collar embracing the staff, the lower end of said arm having a vertical fixed blade, the said arm having a vertical transverse slot intermediate the upper and lower ends, a transverse lever pivotally mounted in said slot and having one end extending under the end of the staff the other end being downwardly curved toward the fixed blade and carrying a cuttingblade normally inclined relative to the fixed blade, a handle secured to the upper end of the staff and extending transversely across the open end of the staff and provided with a transverse slot, a lever pivotally mounted in the slot of the handle and extending across the upper end of the staff, a spring carried by the handle for swinging the upper lever downward, and a rod extending longitudinally through the staff and connected to said levers.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

OTIS O. PETTY.

Witnesses: M. P. RICHARDSON, Geo. O. BUCHHOLZ. 

